Entre Telares
In the summer of 2016, I had the privilege to work with a mexican artisan, Abigail Mendoza through the Alfredo Harp Helú Foundation in Oaxaca. This project was focused on how to create a new innovative design that helped her agilize her process and sales. At the same time we had to create a second design, based on making the handmade design a more exclusive and modern product.
In this collaborative work, we created an equilibrium in which the designer as well as the artisan could connect the diverse ways of thinking, aspirations and compose a wearable art piece.
Abigail works the “urdimbre” which is handloom, she works with threads and creates beautiful mexican folklore symbols. This is a tradition in which every grandmother and mother teaches her daughter since the age of six or eight years old.
Every thread intertwines the traditions and in every thread mill, secrets and stories of their ancestors lay in them, in which only the artisans know.
As I watched Abigail and her mother thread, I realized as they made a space between the first design to the second, they left threads untouched and weren´t utilized as part of the design. As a secondary viewer, it was fascinating to see all the threads they used to make a single ribbon design. So, we worked using the threads untouched to create new designs.
Earrings & Bracelet Design
Process
Modern Designs
For the modern designs I implemented Abigail´s art in products that showed off her impecable diminutive detail, that´s why I chose cufflinks for menswear and for women, silver bracelets.
This has been one of my favorite collaborations! Grateful I could work with such a talented artisan.
